Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous symbols of freedom

Liberty is the political freedom of an individual. It is one of the "unalienable rights" listed in the Declaration of Independence. America's core political values, called republicanism, are based on the extension of liberty to all. Liberty has been a powerful force in politics since the early 1800s, as governments around the world saw the success of the American model and have attempted to emulate it.

Quotes on liberty[edit]

• "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." —John F. Kennedy^[1]

• "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it." —Justice Learned Hand

• "I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave." —H.L. Mencken, 1927

• "Liberty is not a means to a political end. It is itself the highest political end." —Lord Acton

• "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." —George Washington

• "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear." —George Orwell^[2]

• "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." James 1:22-25

See also[edit]

• Freedom
• Self-governance
• Limited government
• Bill of Rights
• Americanism
• Gallery of American Heroes

References[edit]